Emilia López Iñesta is an expert researcher in computational thinking and professor in the Department of Mathematics Didactics. We were talking with her on the occasion of the delivery of the first Very Young Scientists Awards, in which she turned out to be one of the winners.
The importance of data
His research focuses on computational thinking and the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to different contexts, such as education and citizen science. Emilia told us that she is passionate about working with data from different sources. “I would like to highlight the importance of treating the data appropriately so that there is no bias,” he explained. “Many times the data we handle is unbalanced and there is some majority class. This means that, when drawing conclusions, information that is not correct is put. For example, when granting a mortgage loan or health insurance, it may happen that these are not given to minorities that are underrepresented in the data set ”.
For this researcher, the importance of the Very Young Scientists Awards lies in the fact that areas are being awarded that are not normally represented in these types of awards. “I think it is an opportunity to inspire new generations, both boys and girls, because the future is inclusive and we must take diversity into account .” Emilia López is also dedicated to studying gender diversity in ICT and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). She is a Scientix ambassador in Spain, the science teaching community in Europe, and the promoter of the Girls4STEM project to promote scientific vocations. He also collaborates in the project STAT WARS: the empire of data, a dissemination project to bring statistics and its applications in artificial intelligence to ESO and high school students.
First Edition of the Very Young Researchers Awards
The Very Young Researchers Awards have been promoted by Muy Interesante to give more visibility to the work of researchers in areas where the presence of women is usually a minority. The awards ceremony took place at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao on December 14, 2019, coinciding with the celebration of the Homo Curiosus scientific dissemination event. Nominees for the awards, aged up to 45, were selected for their work in so-called STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) areas.
The jury, made up of the editorial committee of Muy Interesante magazine, has taken into account their professional career and their dissemination activity alike, and has sought to reward the dedication and excellence of some professionals who have become a role model for the girls and adolescents who will make up the generations of scientists of tomorrow.
